Final Moment
by keiiah
Summary: [Ryoma x Sakuno] It will be their last walk home.


This fanfic was written for the pontapairworks comm on LJ. 0 Because my computer broke down, one day, I suddenly decided to take a piece of line paper out and began writing. And this just sorta came of it. XD;; Haha Well, Happy very-belated Chinese New Year!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Prince of Tennis

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**Final Moment **

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Rapid footsteps sounded and echoed around the otherwise silent hallway. Sakuno gasped for breath, her feet gradually coming to a halt from the running. She had stopped in front of a door, certain that the person she was looking for was on the other side. A determined expression had plastered onto her face as she clenched her fist into a ball and then relaxed. She slowly slid the door open. The gliding sound of it proved to be unexpectedly comforting.

A figure standing overlooking the scenery outside of the window made a swift turn. His eyes gave a small twitch, most likely from trying to suppress his surprise the instant he recognised the person by the entrance.

Sakuno, still panting a little, took one step towards the person she was looking for, "I finally found you…" she said, her voice soft with a tinge of thankfulness, "I…" she held out a small wrapped box while taking smooth, small strides towards the boy. The room was still, save for the sounds of Sakuno's footsteps and their breathing. School had long ended and most students had departed the campus. The two high school students had their gaze locked at each other as Sakuno got closer and closer to Ryoma. Sakuno couldn't help but note for the millionth time, how much taller Ryoma had grown over the past years. His hair was maintained to about the same length as it was during middle school; his eyes were as brilliant as ever. Sakuno remembered getting lost in them countless times. These eyes never lost its stunning appearance.

The pigtailed girl stopped in front of the tennis prodigy and took another deep breath. She had come this far, she wasn't about to back out now. Taking out all the courage that she had, she looked right into the tennis prodigy's eyes. Even Ryoma was startled by the amount of courage spilling out from those hazel eyes alone.

"I want to give this to you," Sakuno began, her gaze diverting slowly downwards as she closed her eyes to think of the correct words, "as a goodbye present." A sad smile crept onto her lips as she looked up again, "I'm definitely going to watch you win the matches, along with the others, we'll all be supporting you… so do your best, okay?" The smile was almost painful to see. The sad glint in her hazel orbs didn't escape Ryoma's observation, but he returned her smile with a smile of his own, "Sankyu," he said quietly and accepted her gift.

It was then that they both realised how close they actually were. Both able to feel each other breathe; notice the chest inflating and deflating as the silence filled the room once more.

Sakuno couldn't fight back her tears for much longer now. Her determination and courage, whatever it was, was burning out rapidly. In all truth, she had been devastated since the day she found out that Ryoma was leaving. He was going pro, leaving forever. She couldn't imagine life without this boy. They sort of grew on each other gradually as time passed. Occasionally, he would walk her home. The occasion was rare, and most of the time, there was probably conspiracy behind it, but she treasured those times all the same. She was almost up to the point where she thought that she couldn't live without him. But in the end realising that maybe, just maybe she could. Deciding to send him off with a smile, she thought that a gift would be a good idea. She had prepared another gift for the actual day that he would be at the airport, to be given to him then, but this one had to be given individually. Her conscience told her so.

"Goodbye," she said with a quiet, slightly shaky voice. She knew that this was her limit, and began to turn away when a pair of strong arms encircled around her shoulders, and within the next moment, she was pressed against Echizen Ryoma's body in a loose but meaningful hug.

The tears that had gathered began flowing out, one drop after the other. As Ryoma slowly let go, he was surprised to see Sakuno's crying state.

"You're crying," he stated, dense as ever. His hands auto-piloted itself and reached into his own pocket, pulling out a tissue which happened to be there (lucky him), and dabbed Sakuno's drenched face dry of tears. Time passed slower than usual.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have cried," Sakuno said in a small voice, "thank you…"

"Don't apologise for that," the boy said in response, "and you shouldn't thank me," he held up her small gift, "it's the other way," he said with a playful smirk on his face, not bothering to hide the pensiveness in his eyes. With that, he started departing, leaving Sakuno standing at the same spot.

He was about to walk through the door when he suddenly turned back. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Oi, aren't you coming?"

Flat as the question was, Sakuno knew it was an invitation to walk home together. She smiled happily and nodded, following the prince out of the room.

--**End**--

Thank you very much for reading!

Well, this is the very normal effect of the Cheese Syndrome caused by long-term computer-less life. As you can see, it's bad for you. XD;;;

It seems that writing outside of a computer makes me long-winded... Oh well, once again, thanks for reading!


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